Even as rituals have been on full swing at the premises of the Ayodhya Ram temple since yesterday, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) invited sadhus stationed at Uttarakhand’s Badrinath Dham to the yet-to-be-inaugurated temple for the prāna pratishthā ceremony of Ram Lalla slated for 22 January. VHP workers invited the sadhus formally even as they were found meditating at the Badrinath Dham.
Vedic rituals for the Pran-Pratishtha ceremony of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya started yesterday (16 January). In the run-up to the 22 January ceremony, Anil Mishra and other officiating priests did penance after ablution in the Saryu and performed panchagavyaprashana (ritual involving five dairy derivatives). Acharya Laxmikant Dixit initiated the havan with recitals of Valmiki Ramayana and Bhusundi Ramayana from the pavilion.
Today, beginning at 1:20 PM, the priests conducted rituals such as jalayatra, Tirtha Puja, Brahmin-Batuk-Kumari-Suvasini Puja, Vardhini Puja, Kalshayatra and a pradakshina (circumambulation) of the murti of Ram Lalla at the premises.
PM’s own rituals; cultural fest post-prāna pratishthā
General secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust Champat Rai said Ram temple would open for darshan for the general public on 23 January. “The prāna pratishthā will conclude by 1 PM. Prime Minister Modi and others present in Ayodhya will express their thoughts after the ceremony. Following tradition, gifts in 1,000 baskets have arrived from Janakpur of Nepal and areas of Mithila. On 20 and 21 January, people at large cannot have a darshan,” he said.
The prime minister, meanwhile, started his own 11-day special ritual in the run-up to the grand conclusion of the inaugural rituals for Ram Lalla at the temple at Ayodhya.
Carrying akshata (consecrated rice), a schematic map of the Ayodhya temple and a letter of appeal, Swayamsevaks of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and VHP have spread out across the country, urging people to join the grand celebration in their respective localities.
Sources in Sri Rama Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra told Swadharma that the appeal is aimed at keeping the size of the crowd in Ayodhya on 22 January controllable. Formally, 7,000 dignitaries have been invited to attend the cultural function that will follow the conclusion of prāna pratishthā.
Several celebrities like Akshay Kumar, Kangana Ranaut, Tiger Shroff, Jackie Shroff, Hariharan, Rajinikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Randeep Hooda are among those who have received the invitation for the cultural event at the Ayodhya Ram Mandir following the prāna pratishthā ceremony.
Yesterday, India’s star cricketer Virat Kohli and his wife actor Anushka Sharma received the invite.
World Cup-winning former BCCI team captain MS Dhoni and all-time great Sachin Tendulkar have been invited to the ceremony too.
